An Italian court has found a Polish man guilty of kidnapping British model Chloe Ayling, sentencing him to 16 years and nine months in prison.

Prosecutors in the case of Lukasz Herba said Ms Ayling was drugged and kidnapped after she showed up at a Milan address for a modelling job, then held for six days at a farmhouse in the neighbouring Piedmont region before being released at the British consulate in Milan.

Defendant Herba, 30, had claimed Ms Ayling agreed to the scheme to boost her career.

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The mum-of-one stirred further controversy when she posted a topless picture online hours after an Italian court heard she was pictured holding hands with her kidnapper.

Ayling put the photo on her Instagram, showing her clutching a duvet in a risque snap.

The court heard how images appeared to show her and Herba strolling through the streets of Turin together.

Model Chloe Ayling (Image: Instagram)

He was also said to have demanded 50,000 Bitcoins for her release, reports the Mirror.

Ayling said she was drugged and bundled into a car by Herba, and only released days later after going clothes shopping.

There has been speculation the kidnap was a publicity stunt.

Pictures were shown to the Italian court as jurors were also told that the pair had been in touch on Facebook since 2015.

Herba was accused of snatching and drugging Chloe, stuffing her in a black bag and holding her captive in a mountain hideout while claiming to be 'a mid-level hitman' with a dark web mafia called Black Death.

Model Chloe Ayling leaves her home and gets onto a taxi bike in Coulsdon

Chloe turned up to a fashion shoot in Milan last July but was instead injected with ketamine, stripped, photographed and advertised online to be auctioned for Middle-Eastern buyers, the court heard.

But further doubts arose about Chloe’s story after it emerged she also shared a bed with Herba.

Commenting on the footage during the trial, Pesce claimed Ayling was under duress: "You can tell she is not happy to be holding his hand.